Neela Pala Durga is a 30 year old woman from Namavaram. Her education extends only up to the 6th grade as her family’s economic circumstances did not allow for more. She had to get married at the age of 17 in order to ease her family’s burden. She now has two children, a boy (Manikanta) and a girl (Gayathri) aged 10 and 12 respectively. They are studying in the 5th and 7th grades in a government school in Punyakshetram. Her husband is a daily wage worker. As he is illiterate, he does not possess the skills to do anything else and earns only around 350 rupees per day ($5). This meager amount of money does not allow for the upkeep of a family with two adults and two children.
Neela then made a choice to go out into the world and earn money. But there was very little a woman without skill could do. She then came across our organization and learnt some skills in order to add to her family’s finances and put bread on the table. She underwent training in sewing and making crafts. She has now been working with our organization for several years and is an expert at making travel bags, sling bags and coin purses. They are made with excellent workmanship and the designs range from elegant to traditional and are very unique. She is also intelligent and hardworking and learns difficult techniques with ease.
Her earnings provided for her children and helped run the household. At the end of last year, she was afflicted with severe, chronic back pain and was unable to sew with the sewing machine as she has to run it with her legs because it does not have a motor which would make it easier on her back. Fortunately, she has been recovering from the past few months and is now looking for more projects to earn enough in order to invest in a motor for her sewing machine.

Gurram Devi Prasanna is a 27 year old woman. Her education extends only up to the 10th grade. She had to give up her education as her family got her married at the tender age of 15 in order to ease their financial burdens. She now has three daughters, aged 11, 9 and 4 years old. They are studying in a government school. Her husband is a tractor driver and works in agricultural fields. Even though he toils for the entire day under the scorching sun, he receives a very small income. This meager amount of money does not allow for the upkeep of a family with two adults and three children.
Due to the severe poverty, Devi then decided to take it upon herself to get some sort of additional income so that her family can have a better life. Unfortunately, she did not possess any skills that could enable her to earn money. She then was introduced to our organization and learnt to sew and make crafts. She has now been working with our project since past 5 years and specializes in making sling bags and coin pouches. Her designs are beautiful and elegant. She is also brilliant and hardworking and learns difficult techniques with ease.
Her earnings greatly helped her children and to put bread on the table until the beginning of this year. The sudden attack of the global pandemic caught to her family infecting her husband and kids with COVID-19 virus. They struggled to pay the exorbitant hospital bills and could not earn as they were ill. There were days when they did not have food to consume. They have recovered now and Devi is eagerly waiting for projects with hope of earning once again in order to continue living.

Naragana Venkata Lakshmi is a 31 year old woman. Her education extends only up to the 10th grade. She had to give up her education as her family got her married at the tender age of 15 in order to ease their financial burdens. She now has two daughters, Rupa and Jahnavi aged 10 and 8 respectively. They are studying in a government school. Her husband studied only till the 4th grade and hence has very little accomplishments. He is a daily wage worker who earns a very minimum amount each day (rupees 350/ $5). This meager amount of money does not allow for the upkeep of a family with two adults and two children.
Lakshmi then decided to get some sort of additional income by herself because of the severe poverty. Unfortunately, there weren’t many things she could do to put food on the table. She was then introduced to our organization. Here, she learnt to sew and make crafts. She is now skilled at making zippers and purses. She has been working with our program for the last three years and is found to be very intelligent, hardworking and skilled. Her craftsmanship is exquisite and eye catching.
Currently, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, she has been struggling to make ends meet as there has not been enough work in order to earn the required money. As her husband is also unable to find work being a daily wage laborer due to the ongoing situation, she and her family are in dire straits. Hence she is eagerly awaiting to get receive more orders so that she can start getting income once again in order to have their basic needs met.

Komali Varalakshmi is a 35 year old woman. Her education extends only up to the 10th grade. She had to give up her education as her family got her married at the tender age of 15 in order to ease their financial burdens. She now has two daughters, Vani and Vijaya aged 18 and 16 respectively. Her husband is illiterate and hence has very little accomplishments. He is a daily wage worker who earns a very minimum amount each day (rupees 350/ $5). He is also an alcoholic and therefore most of the meager amount he earns goes to fund his addiction. On many days, her husband is incapacitated due to heavy drinking and does not even go to work. This causes a great deal of frustration and pain as the family goes hungry most days.
Varalakshmi then decided to try to become independent instead of counting on her unreliable husband. She wanted to start earning money herself but there weren’t many things she could do. She then came across our organization and learnt to sew. She now has been working with the program for the last three years. She is especially very accomplished in tailoring Indian saree blouses and makes various styles and beautiful designs with beads and intricate embroidery. This also enabled her to take care of her daughters and put food on the table.
Now, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, she has been struggling to make ends meet as there has not been enough work in order to earn money. As her husband is also an alcoholic and unable to go out and earn properly, she and her family are struggling financially, physically and mentally and are in dire straits due to the ongoing situation. Hence she is eagerly waiting to get more orders as she can start earning money once again in order to have their basic needs met.

Neelapala Sathya is a 31 year old woman. Her education extends only up to the 8th grade. She had to give up her education as her family were poor and did not believe in women getting educated. They then got her married at the tender age of 15 in order to ease their financial burdens. She now has two daughters, Martha and Mariya aged 15 and 13 respectively. They are studying in a government school. Her husband is illiterate and hence has very little accomplishments. He is a daily wage worker who earns a very minimum amount each day (rupees 350/ $5). He does manual labor and does backbreaking work for very little money. This meager amount of money does not allow for the upkeep of a family with two adults and two children.
Due to the severe poverty, Sathya decided to start earning money herself but there was nothing a woman without education and skills could do to earn a living. She was the introduced to our organization and here, she learnt to do sewing and making crafts. She has been working with us for the past three years and is now a pro in making pouches and purses. Her designs are both beautiful and traditional. She has proven to be very hardworking and intelligent as she learns new skills with ease.
Now, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, she has been struggling to make ends meet as there has not been enough work in order to earn money. As her husband is also unable to find work as a daily wage laborer due to the ongoing situation, she and her family are in dire straits. Hence she is eagerly waiting to get more orders as she can start earning money once again in order to have their basic needs met.